Ball washing apparatus



May 8, 1956 n J. PRocARaQ E1- Al. 2,744,274

BALL WASHING APPARATUS Filed July 20', 1955 Y n"- u 9 f 23 l2 Fly. 5 Y

- IN V EN TORS y BY P ulEProcagrz' A TTORNEYS nited States Patent BALL wAsHlNe APPARATUS Justino Procario, Canton, and Paul F. Procario, Kent, Ohio Application Jnly zo, 1953, serial No. 368,983 6 claims. (el. 1s97) Our present invention relates to ball washing apparatus and more particularly and speciiically to a portable golf ball washer which may be conveniently attached to a golf bag, wheeled caddyY or the like in a readily available position for use by a golfer during play, and a washer which may be easily and conveniently stored in a pocket of the gol-f ba'g during periods of nonuse.

Generally, certain golf ball 'washing apparatus vconstructions have been used heretofore for the 'purposes of cleaning dirt, grass stains and the like from the covers of golf balls. However, such prior apparatus as has been heretofore provided has had numerous disadvantages both from the standpoint of construction as 'well as from `the standpoint of function and availability of "use,

Certain of these prior golf ball washer constructions include a container provided with a pair of spaced brushes fixed in th'e container and a paddle like golf ball holder reciprocably supported between the brushes for the purpose of moving a golf ball back and forth in contact with the brush surfaces for cleaning the same'.

In these prior constructions, the cleaning of golf balls is accomplished by the brushing action on the ball covers accompanied by the application to the balls of 'a liquid detergent solution which is carried in 'the container 'to a depth of approximately one-half the height ofthe brushes therein.

In the use of such prior constructions as those above noted, it has been ldiscovered that duringthe hot days normal to the golfing season the' detergent solution contained in the washers will evaporate rapidly thus necessitating constant reiillin'g of the washers by golf course personnel in order to maintain the' washers in satisfactorily operable condition. Unfortunately,y the time and labor requirements necessary to maintain a program of refilling for washers of this type has resulted in a great laXi'ty toward that end, thereby yleaving such ball washers unattended and as such substantially useless toygol'fers. l

Certain other types of prior constructions have been tried, but all of such constructions have required the maintenance of a liquid detergent level therein at all times in order to render the construction operative. Thus all prior constructions have the inherent disadvantages common to those above denoted relative to the evaporation of the cleaning solutions. l l

Another disadvantage in the use of prior constructions is inherent in the fact that such lconstructions are bulky and thus require stationary foundations for 'placement at intervals about a golf course Where they arev available to golfers. However, it has been the practice because of the costs involved in the `provision of such washers as well as in the necessity 'that their placement be at points of normal congregation of all golfers to restrict the placement of such prior apparatus to points adjacent tees or greens about the course. Further, it has been an unfortunate practice for golf courses of the 'unusal management to space stationary washers of the type above noted at intervals of every other 'or every third tee` about Patented May 8, 1956 fice" the course vbecause of the requirements noted las well as the initial vcosts of installation.

Thus, the average golfer is confronted with a lack of facility to properly Wash oiclean dirty golf balls at points about the course other 'than those widely spaced stationary washers of the 'type above noted.

It is a general object of the present invention't'o provide a golf ball washer which substantially 'eliminates those disadvantages inherent in both the construction, use 'and availability of prior vknown apparatus.

Another object of the present invention lies in' 'the provision of 'a portable golf ball washer which may be carried by each individual golfer in his golf ba'g witha minimum requirement of storage space, and a washer which may be quickly and easily attach'edto the golf bag or on a wheeled `caddy in a position of ready availability for use at any time and "at any point in his travels about a course.

Still another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a portable golf ball washer which eliminates the necessity of maintaining free liquid in the washer for washing purposes thus avoiding the spilling of detergent solutions in or on the golf bag of ythe user, and a washer which will rein'a'in in operable washing condition for long periods of 'time without the necessity of reconditioning the 'san't'ebv 'the addition of washing vsolutions.

still a further object is 'to provide a golf ball washer which maybe removably attached to a golf bag, a wheeled caddy or the like in such a position as to make it readily available for use by either right or left handed persons at' 'any tithe. n l

Still another important object of the present invention is to provide a portable golf ball washer which is of substantially simple and inexpensive design "and manufacture and which 'is highly e'flicient and easily operable in use for the* purpose 'of `cleaning those dirty substances lfrom golf balls which are normally incurred with the use of rthe saine. Y y

These and other objects are accomplished by theparts,

constructions, arrangements, combinations and subcoinl hinatioiis' 'comprising the present invention, the nature of which is' set yforth in the following general statement, land preferred' embodiments of whi'chillustra'tive 'of the best modes in which applicants have contemplated applying 'the 'piineiplesgare set forth in the following description and illustrated in Ithe accompanying drawings, and which are particularly and distinctly pointed `out and set forth in the appended claims forming a par't hereof. Y n

The nature 'of 'the present invention may be stated' in general terms as including a cylindrical container taking 'the -form of a housing, a lpair of members of, a spongy, liquid 'absorbent material substantially filling the housing, an arcuate passage formed in said spongy material between said members, said passage being of slightly lesser breadth than vthe diameter of a golf' ball, an opening in said housing communicating with said passage to permit the insertion of a golf ball into said passage and its removal therefrom, a portion of said spon'gy material defining said passage being mounted for rotation relative qto :said container and said golf ball, whereupon a golf `ball inserted in said passage will be resilien'tly; 'ab'rade'd by those areas of the s'poi'gy material delini'ng the passage, a hand crank means on said container having operable engagement with said movable portion of said spongy material, closure means on said container for said' opening, and clip means on said container for removably 'securing the container to a golf bag', wheeled' caddy or the like.

In the accompanying drawings in which like numerals ldesignote similar parts 'throughout the several views;

Figure I is a side ei-evatio'n ofthe washer;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the washer;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the washer with the closure member in open condition;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4 4, Fig. 2 with the closure member in open condition;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on line 5--5, Fig. l looking in the direction indicated;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section similar to Fig. 4 illustrating a modified construction of the washer; and

Fig. 7 is a pictorial illustration of the Washer attached to a golf bag.

Referring now in particular to the accompanying drawings, the ball washer constituting the present invention is generally indicated at 1t) and includes a cylindrical container 11 forming a housing having a continuous cylindrical wall 12 closed at each end by end walls 13 and 14. The cylindrical wall 12 is provided with a substantially circular access opening 15 therein which opening is of a slightly greater diameter than the diameter of a golf ball. The peripheral edges of the opening l5 are finished off with a circular rubber grommet 16 which is of general U-shapcd configuration in cross section and which is applied as an edging strip to the container edges delining the opening, A curved or arcuate cover plate 17 is hinged as at 18 to the continuous cylindrical wall or the housing to form a closure member for the access opening 15. A suitable releasable catch member 19* is secured to the housing in such a manner as to selectively engage that edge of the cover plate opposite its hinged connection to lock the cover plate in closed condition over the access opening.

Interiorly the housing is provided with separate, complementary portions of a spongy, liquid absorbent material 20, which portions are so arranged within the container so as to define generally between them an annular passage 21 which is located within the container concentrically of the cylindrical wall thereof and which is centered substantially equi-distant between the end walls of the container, as is best seen in Fig. 5.

Referring to Fig. 5, one of those portions A of the spongy, liquid absorbent material 20 located in the washer housing takes the form of a circular cup 21 having a circular body portion 22 provided with a perpendicular ring flange or rim 23 extending outwardly about the entire circumference of the body portion except where it is broken off to provide a channel 24 therethrough, having tapered edges 26, (Fig. 4) to coincide with the peripheral edges of the access opening 15 in the container. A second portion B of the spongy, liquid absorbent material takes the form of a circular disc 27 provided with a circular hub 28 extending outwardly centrally from one face of the disc 27, said circular hub extending outwardly from the disc a distance substantially equal to the depth of the peripheral rim flange 23 of the cup member 21.

The cup member 21 is disposed with the base portion thereof against the inner face of the end wall 14 of the housing to which it is secured by suitable adhesive means 29 and which disposition places the outer face of the rim flange 23 thereof in juxtaposition with the inner face of the cylindrical wall 12 of the housing substantially centrally between the ends thereol` with the channel 26 in the rim flange coinciding with the access opening 15 in the container as is best seen in Fig. 4. The outer face of the rim flange 23 is also connected as at 29 to the inner face of the cylindrical wall 12.

A shaft 30 is extended through said container on the longitudinal axis thereof and is journaled in bearings 31 and 32 carried by the end walls 13 and 14 of the container respectively. Externally of the container wall 13, and beyond the bearing 31, the shaft 30 is provided with a crank handle 32 for manual rotation of the shaft 3l) in the bearing.

The second portion B of the spongy material is mounted on the shaft 30 with the shaft extending centrally through 4 the hub portion 28. The mounting of sponge portion B on shaft 30 positions hub 28 centrally within the cupshaped member 21. The disc 27 and hub member 28 constituting the second spongy portion B are cemented as at 33 to the shaft 30 to space the extended end of the hub portion at a slight clearance from the base portion of the circular cup member 21, and to cause rotation of the disc and hub with the shaft. The aforedescribed complementary assembly of the first sponge portion A and the second sponge portion B provides for the formation of the annular passage 21 defined in cross section between the base portion and the rim flange of the sponge portion A and the dise portion and extended hub of the sponge portion B.

The cross sectional area of the annular passage 21. is such that when a golf ball 34 is placed downwardly through thc access opening 15 of the container into the passage through the channel 26 in the rim flange 23 of the tirst sponge portion A, limited areas of the ball cover will resilicntly embed themselves in thc spongy material in the portions A and B as is best seen in Fig. 5.

A section of spongy, liquid absorbent material of general circular configuration is applied as at 35 to the inner face of the cover plate 17 so that when said cover plate is closed this section of spongy material will complete the continuity ofthe circular rim flange 23 on the sponge portion A by filling in the channel 26 therein.

Thus, when a ball is inserted into the annular passage 21 and the cover is closed, those portions of the golf ball immediately surrounding the intersecting perpendicular axes of the ball will be impressed into the spongy material and will be subject to resilient abrasion upon relative movement of the ball and portions of said spongi,r material.

To complete the construction of the ball washer at described heretofore, a resilient, substantially U-shapeal clip 36 is secured to the outer face of the end wall lf.- of the housing for the purposes of permitting detachable connection of the washer housing to a golf bag by any one of several possible modes of connection. one of such modes being illustrated in Fig. 7 where the clip is inserted downwardly over the top edge of a golf bag 37 adjacent the inner face of the bag with the washer 10 disposed adjacent the outer face of the bag with the access opening 15 therein disposed upwardly for the convenient insertion of a ball thereinto, and with the handle 32 disposed outwardly away from the bag to facilitate rotation of the shaft 30 and rotation of the sponge portion B and the golf ball 34.

To condition the ball washer for use. a liquid detergent solution is introduced into the container wherein thc spongy material portions A and B absorb a substantial portion of such detergent solution for retention therein.

After completely wetting the spongy portions within the container, all free liquid remaining in the container is emptied out and the cover is closed and secured thus permitting the easy storage and transportation of the ball washer. The closure plate 17 also substantially seals the housing preventing loss of the detergent solution through evaporation.

W'hen the washer is attached to a golf bag, as shown in Fig. 7, the cover plate 17 may be opened and one or more golf balls 34 inserted into the annular passage 2l in the container through the access opening 15. These golf balls will be moved through the annular passage 21 in either a clockwise or counterclocl-:wise direction, as indicated by arrows in Fig. 4, dependent upon the direction of operation of the crank handle 32 by the resilient. frictional movement of the Adisc 27 and hub 23 in engagernent with the ball 34. When such ball or balls re turn to a position immediately beneath the access opening 15 the resilience of the central hub portion 28 will cause the balls to spring upwardly to positions partially clear of the access opening 15 permitting theirready removal from the washer.

During movement of the golf balls 34 through the annular passage, the balls ywill be oscillated and rotated without any uniform pattern by reason of the frictional braking action applied to the ball by the stationary cup member 21 and the frictional impelling action of the disc 27 and hub 28 whereby all surface areas of the ball cover will be resiliently abraded or rubbed by the detergent solution bearing spongy material therebyvcleaning all foreign substances from thevcover of the ball.

Referring to Fig. 6, a modification of the present ball washer is shown wherein the construction of the container and the spongy portions therein are identical with those ,aforedescribed In this modified construction, a pair of stop members or gates 38 are secured to the inner face of the container at spaced positions on either side of the access opening in the general direction of the annular passage. The stop members 38 are faced with spongy material 20. These stops extend substantially radially inwardly into the annular passage 21 to restrict movement of a golf ball 39 positioned in said passage and to maintain the ball Within a fixed region immediately below the access opening 15 in the container. In this modified construction, a ball positioned in the annular .passage 21 between the stop members or gates 38 will,

when the cover plate 17 is closed and locked, have portions thereof embedded on all sides in spongy material 20, as aforedescribed relative to the previously disclosed construction, and rotation of the spongeportion B will cause oscillation, twisting and rotation of the ball in contact with the spongy material thereby cleaning all foreign substances from the cover of the ball. Upon opening of the cover plate 17 there will be a resilient projection of the ball by hub 28 upwardly and outwardly of thev access opening 15 for its removal from the container.

While in the instant disclosures the annular passage 21 is shown with a rectangular cross section, since such a configuration constitutes the most economical construction, it is fully contemplated that the sponge portions defining the annular passage could be so shaped as to provide an annular passage of round or oval cross-sectional configuration without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

It is further contemplated that any wet retaining material such as sponge rubber, neoprene or the like could be utilized as the abrading detergent holding means within the container of the washer construction shown and described.

Accordingly, a portable golf ball washer is provided which has inherently all those attributes, objects and advantages set forth above, and which provides an extremely new and useful article of manufacture of a type and function unique in the light of prior constructions.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because such words are used for descriptive purposes herein and are intended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiments of the improved construction illustrated and described herein are by way of example, and the scope of the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction.

Having now described the invention, the construction, the operation and use of preferred embodiments thereof, and the advantageous new and useful results obtained thereby; the new and useful constructions, and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.

We claim:

l. A portable golf ball washer including a housing, a generally cup-shaped mass of spongy absorbent material having a body portion and a generally perpendicularly extending rim flange terminating in an open end, the cup-shaped mass mounted in the housing, a second mass of spongy absorbent material mounted in the housing adjacent the -rim flange open end and substantially closing said open end, a third lmass of spongy absorbent material mounted telescoped within and spaced from the cupshaped mass rim flange between the cup-shaped mass body portion and second mass forming a continuous passage within the cup-shaped mass rim flange and between the cup-shaped mass body portion and the second mass, at least one of the second and third masses being mounted for rotation in reference to the housing, means for rotating said one mass, and the housing having an opening formed therein in communication with the continuous passage to permit the insertion of a golf ball into said passage and the removal therefrom.

. 2. Golf ball washerconstruction as defined in claim l inl which the rim flange of the cup-shaped mass is provided with a channel formed therethrough, in which the opening in the housing communicates with the continuous passage through said channel, in which a removable cover plate is mounted over the opening in the housing, and in which a section of spongy absorbent material is mounted on said cover plate to fill said channel.

3. Golf ball washer construction as defined in claim l in which both the second and third masses are mounted for rotation in reference to the housing; and in which the means for rotating is for rotating both the second and third masses.

4. Golf ball washer construction as defined in claim 3 in which the rim flange of the cup-shaped mass is provided with a channel formed therethrough, in which the opening in the housing communicates with the continuous passage through said channel, inwhich a removable cover plate is mounted over the opening in the housing, and in which a section of spongy absorbent material is mounted on said cover plate to fill said channel.

5. A portable golf ball washer including a cylindrical housing having circular end walls, a circular cup of spongy absorbent material having a circular body portion and a perpendicularly extending rim flange, the circular body portion of the cup fixedly mounted against one end wall of the housing, a circular disc of spongy v absorbent material having a circular hub extending outwardly of one face thereof a distance substantially equal to the depth of said cup rim ange, said disc rotatably mounted against the end wall of the housing opposite from said one end wall with said hub lpositioned centrally within thecup forming an annular passage between the cup and disc, said housing having an opening formed therein in communication with said annular passage to permit the insertion of a golf ball between said disc and its removal therefrom, and a handle on said housing operably connected to said rotatable disc to permit rotation thereof; whereby a golf ball inserted in the annular passage may be moved by rotation of the circular disc throughout the length of the passage in resilient abrading contact with the cup and disc.

6. Golf ball washer construction as defined in claim 5 in which the rim ange of the cup is provided with a channel formed therethrough, in which the opening in the housing communicates with the annular passage through said channel, in which a removable cover plate is mounted over the opening in the housing, and in which a section of spongy absorbent material is mounted on said cover plate to fill said channel.

, References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,920,960 Cogsdill Aug. 8, 193,3 1,954,738 Lerch Apr. 10, 1934 2,622,257 Lemonds Dec. 23, 1952 

